It was just a couple of years ago that Crystal Lake resident Paul Fleming experienced a traumatic change in his life. He lost his wife of almost 50 years, and subsequently found that he needed to generate some outside interests to keep him busy.
That’s when a mailing from Home State Bank about its Senior Class Club caught his eye.
“I was a customer of the bank for quite a while and received their notices regularly, but we were busy with other things and never responded to them,” Fleming said. “More recently, however, I realized that I needed something to do and decided to participate in some of the Senior Club activities.”
Home State Bank’s Senior Class Club is one of a number of programs available to seniors in McHenry County, all of which seem to be highly valued by their respective participants.
“It’s a program for our customers who are 55 or better and carry as little as $1,500 in any savings, money market or personal checking plus account,” said Kitty Nash, a vice president at Home State Bank and executive director of the Senior Class Club. “Although there are a few other ways to qualify, that’s the easiest.”
These senior programs bring many more benefits than the activities that first attracted Fleming. Membership in the Platinum Adventures program of the Crystal Lake Bank and Trust family of banks, for example, offers the benefits of the bank’s PlatinumPreferred Checking accounts, including free cashier’s checks, travelers checks and money orders, free online banking, discount rates on safe deposit boxes and free notary service.
“Platinum Adventures is a senior travel club for ‘young elderly’ from 50 years of age and up,” said Bettie Siavelis, a vice president at Crystal Lake Bank and Trust. “Most of our members are customers of our bank. However, you can participate as a guest as many as three times. We do many kinds of day trips, as well as extended trips through the United States, Canada and Europe. We also do seminars for our members. For example, we will soon be offering one by Wayne Hummer titled ‘Looking Beyond the Financial Market Crisis and Optimizing Your Bond Portfolio.’”
This free seminar will be offered twice, with the bank supplying a lunch for the afternoon event. Another presentation will take place at the Crystal Lake Country Club, where appetizers and beverages will be served. Home State Bank’s Senior Class Club members also have a number of opportunities to attend seminars on varied topics.
“Every year, we offer three or four life-enriching or educational presentations in our Pie-Plus Program, during which we always serve pie,” said Nash. “Recently, we talked about how to do some remodeling with just a bit of money. We’ve had investment programs and talks on gardening. We also had Bill LeFew, the treasurer of McHenry County, come and talk about tax benefits available to seniors.”
While such programs are always well attended, the real attraction of these senior programs is the travel and social events they offer—day trips to plays, museums or sporting events; overnight trips to locations in Illinois or nearby states and extended trips to just about anywhere.
“We try to do two or three extended trips each year,” said Nash. “We just came back from our winter getaway—two nights in Miami followed by a seven-day Caribbean cruise. In May, we’re going to Poland, Germany and Prague. We’ve really been all over the world. We’ve gone to China, Australia and many times to Europe. Last year, we visited Italy.”
The goal of these programs is certainly not to make money for the bank or even sell travel. In some cases, the banks even subsidize events. The desire is to build relationships with customers. Each organization has repeat participants who consider it a pleasant way to fulfill their travel desires. When they join the group, most of the hassles associated with travel, even local travel, are ironed out for them.
“I hadn’t gone to any live performances for quite awhile, so I started going to them with the Senior Class Club,” said Fleming. “I not only enjoy the plays; I very much enjoy having everything taken care of. All I have to do is show up. There’s no worry about parking or traveling. I could go to these places by myself, but I make friends with people I meet in the group. It’s companionship and fun to do.”Friendship seems to be the most appealing aspect of participation in such senior programs. The travel, meals and plays are all enjoyable, but it’s the opportunity for companionship that brings members back to the programs.
“Everyone has made friends,” said Siavelis. “I often notice that people who might be sitting alone in the bus when we go to some event will have a new friend next to them on the way back. Many friendships develop. We recently lost one of our members, and I can’t tell you how many of our Platinum Adventures members attended the wake. I was very touched by the event.”
“It’s very rewarding to see the connections established between people,” said Nash. “We had, for example, a woman who had recently lost her husband. She quickly met another lady who experienced the same loss a year earlier. Right away, they were able to help each other. They’ve been friends ever since. We’ve even had couples meet and get married.”
Contact your bank to see if it offers a senior program. If not, Kitty Nash at Home State Bank or Bettie Siavelis at Crystal Lake Bank and Trust will be happy to help you.
“My husband, Jim, and I travel often with the Platinum Adventures Club,” said club member Linda Christy. “It doesn’t matter if we are going on a day trip to the theater or on a four-day adventure to Door County or Branson, Missouri. We know that we are going to have a great time. Bettie makes sure we have the very best travel arrangements, lodging and tour guides available.”
